Mid-August, both the United States Senate and over 350 newspapers affirm that “the press is NOT the enemy of the people.” This week of October, the 78th annual National Newspaper Week declares, “Journalism Matters: NOW more than ever.”
I add my appreciation for my career both as a journalist and a teacher of journalism. With my students and occasionally in this column, I have used the words of the Founding Father and third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, who fought his own battles with the press. He said, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” He added, “But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”
As I read the Senate’s Resolution in unanimous support of a free press, I was surprised to see another Jefferson quote, one unfamiliar to me. This resolution also includes the words of other patriots.
Whereas Benjamin Franklin in 1722 wrote, “Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech.”
Whereas Thomas Jefferson in 1786 wrote, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
Whereas James Madison in 1789 introduced the freedom of the press in the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States.Whereas James Madison based the freedom of the press on the Declarations of Rights of the Commonwealth of Virginia , which in 1776 declared, “The freedom of the Press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic Governments.”
Whereas President Ronald Reagan proclaimed August 4, 1985 as Freedom of the Press Day, stating that “Freedom of the press is one of our most important freedoms and also one of our oldest.” Whereas President Reagan also said, “Today, our tradition of a free press as a vital part of our democracy is as important as ever.
The news media are now using modern techniques to bring our citizens information not only on a daily basis but instantaneously as important events occur.
This flow of information helps make possible an informed electorate and so contributes to our national system of self-government.
"Whereas Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote…”The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is beside the point. Inconvenience dos not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech.”
Whereas the United State Supreme Court also affirmed the history and intent of the freedom of the press…stating “In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the govern, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.”
Whereas tyrannical and authoritarian governments and leaders throughout history have sought to undermine, censor, suppress and control the press to advance their undemocratic goals and actions; and Whereas the United States, including the long-held commitment to and constitutional protection of the free press in the United States has stood as a shining example of democracy, self-government and freedom for the world to emulate: Now therefore be it resolved that the Senate affirms that the press is not the enemy of the people.…
Reaffirms the vital and indispensable role that the free press serves to inform the electoral, uncover the truth, act as a check on the inherent power of the government, further national discourse and debate and otherwise advance the most basic and cherished democratic norms and freedoms of the United States and condemns the attacks on the institution of the free press and views efforts to systematically undermine the credibility of the press as an attack on the democratic institution of the United States.
We may not like the message that a messenger delivers, but it is our responsibility to be an educated reader or listener, to weigh the facts and to know our source. If the source is not a legitimate fact gathering institution, held to accountability, we need to look further.
I add the words of the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
2018
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